Jessica Pegula wins Citi Open

Associated PressAug 5, 2019, 9:51 AM EDT

AP Photo

WASHINGTON — Jessica Pegula’s parents are used to seeing the athletes they root for come up short: Mom and Dad own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. On Sunday, their daughter was the one holding a trophy after winning her first WTA title.

Pegula, a 25-year-old American ranked 79th, picked up the biggest win of her professional tennis career by beating Camila Giorgi of Italy 6-2, 6-2 at the Citi Open.

“It’s been extremely gratifying. This is what you work for: to win tournaments. It sounds cliche, (but) the journey makes it all that much sweeter,” said Pegula, who recently began working with David Witt, Venus Williams’ former coach.

“This week, though, it felt different. This final, I felt like I was just ready,” said Pegula, who dropped to her knees on court after the final point, then celebrated with her dog, Maddie, during the trophy ceremony. “I was like: You know what? You’re going to go out there and you’re going to win.”

She had a 4-8 record and hadn’t reached the quarterfinals anywhere this season until winning five consecutive matches at Washington’s hard-court tournament.

Injuries to her ankle, knee and hip have slowed her progress.

“We always say she’s our first sports team – and our favorite. People often ask us which team we like better, which sport we like better, and so she’s always been our first team and our favorite team,” Pegula’s mother, Kim, said after the Bills’ practice at their training camp site in suburban Rochester, New York. “I said: She set the tone for the season now, right?”‘

The Bills have made the postseason just once since 2000; the Sabres have an eight-year playoff drought.

This was Pegula’s second career tour-level final.

The 62nd-ranked Giorgi was bidding for her third title.

Pegula said that Witt didn’t so much make any “big changes” to her game as he gave her “a couple little things to focus on.”

“Kind of helped me realize to compete for every single point and not really take off any games, take off any points,” she said, “and just keep that same mindset the whole time.

Cirstea beats Sabalenka at Miami; night matches rained out

Associated PressMar 29, 2023, 11:57 PM EDT

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – Sorana Cirstea advanced to her first semifinal of a WTA 1000 event in a decade, beating Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 6-4 at the Miami Open on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old Cirstea beat the highest-ranked opponent of her career by knocking off the second-ranked Sabalenka. Cirstea previously defeated No. 4 Caroline Garcia this month at Indian Wells and topped Garcia again in the second round at Miami.

“I think I’m a bit speechless,” Cirstea said. “I came out knowing that it’s going to be a really tough match. Aryna hits so hard, so I knew I had to hold my ground, and I’m very, very happy with my performance today.”

The 74th-ranked Romanian, who has two career singles titles, will face either Petra Kvitova and Ekaterina Alexandrova in the semifinals. The Kvitova-Alexandrova match had been scheduled for Wednesday night but was postponed to Thursday because of rain; also postponed was the men’s match between top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz and No. 10 Taylor Fritz.

Alexandrova advanced on Tuesday when Bianca Andreescu suffered a left ankle injury and left the court in a wheelchair. On Wednesday, the 22-year-old Andreescu tweeted that she tore two ligaments in her ankle and will be out indefinitely.

“It’s tough to say exactly how long it will take, but let’s just say it could’ve been much worse!! I’m going to take it day by day, and I am optimistic that with the right work, rehab, and preparation, I’ll be back on court soon,” the 2019 U.S. Open champion said in her social media post.

Sabalenka had six double faults, three of them on break points, and made 21 unforced errors to just nine for Cirstea.

“I guess people like to keep count of the age, the years, the results, but I never do that. I just mind my own business, work hard, do my thing, believe in my game, work with my coach Thomas Johansson – we just started in December and so far, I think it’s going great,” Cirstea said.

In the men’s draw, 11th-ranked Jannik Sinner beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-1.

Elena Rybakina hits 10 aces in Miami for 12th straight win

Associated PressMar 28, 2023, 9:50 PM EDT

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina extended her winning streak to 12 matches by delivering 10 aces – her fourth consecutive outing with at least that many – in a 6-3, 6-0 victory over 25th-seeded Martina Trevisan in the Miami Open quarterfinals.

Rybakina has 46 aces through four matches at the hard-court tournament in Florida and a WTA-leading 201 this season.

The 23-year-old, who represents Kazakhstan, improved to 20-4 in 2023, including a run to the Australian Open final in January and a title at Indian Wells, California, last week.

She is trying to become only the fifth player to win the women’s trophies at Indian Wells and Miami in the same season. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek did it a year ago; she withdrew from Miami this time because of a rib injury.

“Of course it would be amazing to achieve something like that,” the 10th-seeded Rybakina said about the prospect of completing what’s known as the Sunshine Double, “but it’s still far away.”

So far in Rybakina’s career, 13 of her 18 semifinal appearances have come on hard courts. She will face No. 3 Jessica Pegula for a berth in the final after the American fought off two match points and outlasted No. 27 Anastasia Potapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in a match that ended just before 1:30 a.m. after play had been delayed by rain.

“I haven’t been that physically tired in just a really long time,” Pegula said. “Just the humidity was taking so much out of me, and I haven’t been able to play in humidity like that in a while. It was just really tough, so really, it was just pure will.”

Trevisan reached the French Open semifinals in 2022.

In fourth-round men’s action Tuesday, No. 2 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas was beaten 7-6 (4), 6-4 by No. 14 Karen Khachanov, while defending champion Carlos Alcaraz, Taylor Fritz and Jannik Sinner all beat seeded opponents in straight sets.

Alcaraz, who returned to No. 1 in the ATP rankings last week, got past Australian Open semifinalist Tommy Paul 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting against Fritz, the top-ranked American man and seeded ninth in Miami.

Fritz compiled twice as many winners, 22, as unforced errors, 11, and only dropped serve once during a 6-3, 6-4 victory over No. 7 Holger Rune. That put Fritz into his first quarterfinal in seven appearances in Miami – and his first matchup against Alcaraz, a 19-year-old from Spain who won the U.S. Open in September for his first Grand Slam title.

“I’m really excited for it,” Fritz said. “I think that a lot of people are really excited for that, too.”

No. 10 Sinner eliminated No. 6 Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 and has yet to drop a set in the tournament.

Sinner’s next opponent will be unseeded Emil Ruusuvuori, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 winner against No. 26 Botic van de Zandschulp.

No. 4 Daniil Medvedev, forced to start late and off his scheduled court after the rain, beat Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-2. He will face American Christopher Eubanks, who edged Adrian Mannarino in a pair of tiebreakers.

Khachanov will play Francisco Cerundolo, a semifinalist in Miami last year, in the other men’s quarterfinal.